If you're wondering why footage from your Nest Cam seems lower in quality, know that it's going to be like that for a while. It's what Google says in a recent email to users.
According to the search giant, it will be reducing the Nest's video quality temporarily in order to limit the bandwidth usage of each user, which will help "conserve internet resources." Those who have their settings changed will be notified in the Nest app.
It's not a surprising move, considering internet usage has spiked due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Tech companies are scrambling to keep the internet stable so they are reducing the quality of their videos in order to continue providing services to everybody. Sony has already started capping download speeds in PlayStation games, while YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon have set their default settings to SD.
In truth, Nest cams don't actually use a lot of bandwidth compared to game downloads and video streams, but each camera can use around 400GB of data per month at its highest settings. These days, even the tiniest of efforts are counted big, so cutting back on the quality of Google Nest cams can make a difference.
"To answer the global call to prioritize internet bandwidth for learning and working, in the next few days we're going to be making a few changes," Google said in a statement. "We believe these changes have the potential to help make it easier for communities to keep up with school, work, and everything in between."
If you haven't noticed changes in your Nest cam yet, you will "in the next few days." The camera settings on the device will be automatically set to the default or out-of-the-box settings. Photo slideshows on Chromecast streaming devices and Nest smart displays will also have a reduced resolution according to Google.
This is all temporary, according to the tech giant. However, it hasn't provided a timeline as to when the Nest's regular settings will resume. But Google isn't exactly making the change mandatory. You still have the option to bump your camera settings up whenever you need it.
Google isn't capping the quality as well. Again, it's just changing its default setting. Our advice: use HD only when you see fit. We don't know for sure when the end of the pandemic will be, so every little bit of help counts. If you haven't already, check your inbox to read Google's info about it.
